“It was a nightmare”, said Paul, after he was treated for hypothermia in hospital following his ordeal off Trefor in Gwynedd on Saturday.

Paul, a gardener, was on a mackerel fishing trip with a friend. Paul’s wife Charlotte, their three-year-old daughter Chloe, and his friend’s wife watched in horror as the lunchtime drama unfolded.

The two men paddled about half a mile out to sea when the waves got so choppy they decided to turn back to shore.

Paul, 34, said: “The kayak line got tangled on a buoy as I was paddling. I had a two-way radio (with his wife ashore). I was trying to radio through to say I needed help but because it was waterlogged all she could hear was static.”

Then the kayak overturned. Paul

added: “The kayak capsized due to the line being tangled up. At this point there was no-one nearby to help me.”

Paul, who was wearing a wetsuit and lifejacket, said: “I tried to turn it the right way up and cut the fishing line but the line was wrapped around my legs and arms. It was horrific.

“Panic set in when my open-topped kayak started to sink. The more I tried to get back in the kayak, the more it sank. Eventually, all I could see was the tip of the kayak in the water.

“I was in the rough sea for about 30 minutes. Despite having a wetsuit on, I was extremely cold and losing consciousness. I thought I was dying and I would never see my family again.”

Help, though, was on its way. “My friend appeared from nowhere in his kayak. He said the coastguard had been called at 1.05pm. Someone on the shore had rung them. Simon was talking to me and clinging on to my buoyancy aid. If he had not come back to me I would be dead – I would be gone.”

A Sea King helicopter from 22 Squadron at RAF Valley flew to the scene and a winchman took a relieved Paul aboard. Paul added: “They said you’re only able to be in the sea for 28 minutes before hypothermia sets in – I was in for 55 minutes.” He was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor . “They took blood for tests and I was put in a hot bed. They were warming me up slowly.”

He also has a stitches in his forehead and cuts and bruises from his tussle to right his upturned kayak.

Paul, from Neston on the Wirral, blames his craft for his ordeal. He said: “Open kayaks should not sink under any conditions.” He thanked rescuers and pledged to try to meet winchman Peter Wood. “I’m so thankful. I’m definitely going to make a donation to 22 Squadron and hopefully meet the winchman.”

The other kayaker, who he knows only as Simon, had “paddled frantically” to get ashore but was suffering from exhaustion. He was picked up by Porthdinllaen RNLI who had also been scrambled.